Steam Look - Armored Lab Force VULVEHICLES

The year is 2010. Terran Defense forces have invaded Abic, laying waste to the planet's defense systems and facilities. A ragtag team of researchers has had enough! Putting their thousands of years of training and experience to work, six ladies develop twelve ultra-advanced tanks. These vulvechs feature state of the art weapons as well as hovering technology. They've also been fitted with portal devices, guaranteed to swap tanks in the heat of battle at a moment's notice. It might not sound like much compared to the galaxy-conquering TDF and their infinite forces, but our heroes will figure something out. ASTRO PORT's love for explosive hardware and cute ladies talking history collides in Armored Lab Force VULVEHICLES!! 

I love ASTRO PORT games. They're well-built, explore unique ideas, and don't waste a minute of my time. Whenever they put out a new release, I'm confident that it's going to rock. Their 2022 release VULVEHICLES takes vehicular combat in an interesting direction. Each of its 24 stages are comprised entirely of destructible terrain. Both yours as well as the enemy's firepower will blow away walls and floors. If, for example, you're feeling a little overwhelmed by the TDF's current attack, you can shoot your way through an alternate path, using the remnants of the terrain as cover. Foes that walk or roll across the ground are instantly destroyed if they fall off of the screen. The same applies to turrets that are attached to walls. They might be durable, but their surroundings aren't. All sorts of scenarios can occur over the course of a typical playthrough, so be ready to adapt to constant change.

Hovering technology can only do so much when the object it's trying to keep elevated weighs anywhere from a couple dozen to over a hundred tons. Basically, you can't fly around the battlefield without consequence. Hovering expends energy. Though your tank doesn't drop like a rock the instant that energy is exhausted, movement becomes incredibly restrictive. The game makes a point by painting the borders red when there's no energy, because a series of direct hits on an unmoving target is practically imminent. Staying grounded will slowly replenish hoverpower, but you're much better off just switching tanks. Holding the requisite button will transport the depleted tank out for a fresh one. You can (and definitely should) also do this if a tank is low on HP. Three are taken into battle at a time. If any of them don't make it back, then they're lost for the remainder of the mission. One other extremely important detail is that teleporting doesn't work in the air. Finding a place to land and making the switch while being pelted from all directions is just one of many situations that has to be figured out.

A lot can go wrong in this game, but I can only blame myself when it does. The most durable tanks in the garage are also the largest, which affects both speed and evasive ability. Basically, I can't get mad that I tried to fly a large object in-between a barrage of bullets. Vulvechs don't get invincibility frames after taking damage either. It's totally fair, because the enemies they contend with can all be destroyed in seconds. Even the bosses rarely survive for more than a minute. A sustained attack or a couple special weapons at the right time will eliminate them with relative ease. There are even some neat tricks that veterans can appreciate, such as using the teleportation switch to avoid attacks entirely. The timing is a little absurd, but the fact that such a feature even exists is cool as hell. Basically, survival is all about resource-management. Depending on the selected tanks, players are allotted a supply of special weapons. Use them at the right time to clear stages with ease or waste them on frivolous targets, and risk getting demolished when the real threats appear.

Each of the twelve vulvechs are designed to suit specific playstyles. Besides speed and size, tanks are differentiated by their weaponry. The largest of the lot fires drills that punch through everything. Depending on the stage, this can be an ideal strategy or a big disaster. Erica's tanks (left side, center) can be summed up as flamethrower and giant laser. Good for single targets, bad for crowd. Special weapons can also differentiate wildly. The second-largest tank creates a field that erases every onscreen bullets. Appropriately enough, this special weapon has the least amount of ammo and doesn't do actual damage. It's still invaluable when used at the right moment. The top-left tank has a huge cache of grenades. They're hard to use but offer plenty of versatility. Players aren't required to use every vulvech in the garage, but they're setting themselves up for failure if they continue to rely on a small handful.

As is usually the case with ASTRO PORT games, this one features a wide selection of difficulty settings. Anyone experienced with shooters is liable to find Normal to be a little too easy. However, I'd still suggest starting with it. Higher difficulties affect more than just firepower. They introduce new and deadlier foes. The highest difficulty - which is only available after scoring 10,000,000 points in a single playthrough - adds buzz-saw tanks that will drain an entire HP bar in nanoseconds. Choosing the right vulvech for a stage also becomes outright essential. Even on the (easier) Insane setting, I was struck with the grim realization that my poor decisions in the garage set me up to fail at a critical moment. If you're willing to commit, then there's plenty of depth. 

Armored Lab Force VULVEHICLES is another easy recommendation. The concept is simple to understand yet creates a surprising number of potential situations to overcome. Enemies are varied, interesting, and always on the attack. 24 stages might sound rather high, but I assure you that the typical playthrough is going to slide well under 45 minutes. Also, fans of the lore can watch anime girls discuss the entirety of the ASTRO saga. I probably mentioned it already, but there are at least twelve games that share the same timeline. Ridiculous, but also charming.

Oh, and I've uploaded a playthrough of insane difficulty on Youtube. Cutscenes are automatically skipped, so there's not too much to spoiler.